X-Mozilla-Status: 0001 X-Mozilla-Status2: 00800000 X-Mozilla-Keys: Message-ID: <54E78AC7.5000606@sbcglobal.net> Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 11:28:07 -0800 From: Richard Childers User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; FreeBSD i386; rv:10.0.3) Gecko/20120327 Thunderbird/10.0.3 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: ENVHEALTH Subject: Re: 137 12th St, Fortuna: Apartment Mold Causing Daughter To Cough Until She Has Nosebleeds References: <54E630F3.6010604@sbcglobal.net> In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Much obliged. Regards, ~richard On 02/20/15 10:18, ENVHEALTH wrote: > Mr. Childers, > > We have received your e-mail. The subject is under review. > > Sincerely, > > Andrea Arnold > Office Services Supervisor > DHHS Public Health > Division of Environmental Health > 100 H Street, Suite 100 > Eureka, CA 95501 > (707)268-2219 > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Richard Childers [mailto:fscked@sbcglobal.net] > Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2015 10:53 AM > To: ENVHEALTH > Cc: Gary Goade > Subject: 137 12th St, Fortuna: Apartment Mold Causing Daughter To Cough Until She Has Nosebleeds > > To whom it may concern, > > On the advice of those with whom I spoke within the County of Humboldt's Department of Health and Human Services, I am contacting you to report a threat to public health - the substandard housing, generating over > $20,000 per month, that is being rented to the public, at 137 12th Street, in Fortuna, CA, 95540. > > Would it be possible to reply to this email, and let me know that it was received? > > Here are the details: > > > We've been living in Fortuna for nearly a decade. > > My oldest daughter started first grade here, and is now attending Academy of the Redwoods. One of my daughters represented Humboldt County at the California State Spelling Bee, a few years ago. > > As a result of an Ellis Act eviction in early 2014, we ended up at 137 12th Street, in Fortuna - a dingy apartment complex that we had lived at, five years before. > > Since we had lived at the apartment complex previously, it had changed hands, and changed management, for the worse. I had no idea what I and my family were in for. > > Shortly after moving in, we discovered a bedbug infestation. > > It has been nine months, and the bedbug infestation STILL hasn't been resolved. > > We got rid of all our furniture and have been living like refugees, out of boxes, sleeping on cots, in sleeping bags, since maybe May of 2014. > (See photos.) > > During the fall of 2014 I saw mold blooming on all of the exterior-facing interior walls. The maintenance guy washed it off with 10% bleach. The mold came back. I washed it off with 25% bleach. The mold came back. (See photos.) > > Three weeks ago the Fortuna building inspector (Gary Goade) came out. He and the other inspector thought it was mold ... but wanted a specialist to come and take samples. They told PPM (the property management firm) not to wash the walls until the samples were taken. > > (I'm not sure but I think the specialist is someone who works for your department - DHHS. This would be the same person who was involved in doing the testing that led to the National 9 Inn, in Fortuna, getting red-tagged, back in 2014.) > > So, basically, we are in a holding pattern, waiting for the mold specialist to show up and take their samples so we can wash the walls. > > We've been waiting for three weeks. > > My daughter has started coughing, though - the coughing was so bad she got a nosebleed, a day ago ... and the only remediation is to not cough. > > My question is: What is the point of having laws against renting spaces to live in, that are infested with mold ... if one needs to employ a lawyer, to get the government to enforce its own laws? > > Why isn't Humboldt County making rental property owners replace moldy plasterboard? > > A 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of wallboard is $10. One could do a whole room for less than $100 in materials - a whole apartment could be completely redone for less than one month's rent, including all the paint and all the labor. > > The way things are going, this girl is going to end up in the emergency room. And the rest of us, too. > > This doesn't seem very cost-effective. > > This doesn't seem like honest real estate property management, as I understand the meaning of 'honest', and 'property management'. > > It seems criminally stupid real estate management, to be frank. > > How can 137 12th Street qualify as Section 8 housing, with conditions like this? > > > Regards, > > ~richard > > Richard Childers > 707-725-7995 (phone) > > > PS: Pictures of 137 12th Street, Apt 4A, Fortuna, attached. Note water > stains on pillars under building, proving that the high water mark > reached the wood portion of the building, repeatedly, and recently. > > > This e-mail message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee named above and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, please reply to sender to announce the error, and then delete this message. You are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying or distribution of this message is strictly prohibited and may result in criminal or civil charges. Thank you.